PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024

B2B eCommerce, Business Banking Tech Open VC Wallets

With $43.5 million in total funding raised, it was a relatively promising week for B2B FinTechs on the venture capital front.

This week’s roundup includes startups from the U.S., India and Brazil, with focuses ranging from business banking technology to food and grocery B2B eCommerce. PYMNTS rounds up the latest investments below.

BizCapital

Brazil’s BizCapital, a financial service provider for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), secured $3 million in funding from Oikocredit, the company said this week. The investment contributed to the startup’s Series B investment round, which has so far totaled $15 million and will go toward new product development as well as distribution expansion. BizCapital connects Brazilian SMBs to a range of financial services, including loans, but the company is looking to compete with traditional banks and the “red tape” that SMB customers often face when attempting to access a range of financial services, the company said.

Arzooo

B2B retail technology startup Arzooo, based in India, secured $7.5 million in Series A funding, The Economic Times of India said this week. Arzooo’s technology targets the retail space with virtual inventory, logistics, payments and financing tools, including its most recent product launch, Arzooo Credit. Investor WRVI Capital led the round, while existing backers 3Lines Venture Capital, Jabbar Internet Group and others contributed to the round. Arzooo said it will use the funding to scale operations and expand into new areas of India, as well as to strengthen its existing technology platform.

StreetShares

In the U.S., StreetShares, which services financial institutions (FIs) with its small business lending technology, raised $10 million. Investors at Motley Fool Ventures, Ally Ventures and several angel investors all participated in an investment round. The startup said it will use the investment to help banks and credit unions continue to digitize their SMB lending operations in the wake of the pandemic, and expand its existing platform with new services and technologies that can help these FIs address the post-pandemic needs of their small business customers.

Jumbotail

Also based in India is Jumbotail, a B2B eCommerce platform focused on the food and grocery arena. The company revealed this week an $11 million investment round led by Heron Rock, while Nexus Venture Partners, Jumbofund, Siddhi Capital, Reaction Fund, Pimpernel Holdings and other industry leaders also participated in the Series B2 investment round. The company will deploy the investment to expand into new markets across India as it helps kirana stores procure the food items they need in their inventory.

Wise

Banking technology startup Wise announced a $12 million Series A investment this week led by e.ventures, while Grishin Robotics also participated along with seed investors Base10 Partners and Techstars. The funding, which followed a $5.7 million seed round earlier this year, will be deployed toward growth efforts as well as to fuel new partnerships. The company works with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) B2B businesses that need to launch their own business banking solution, an area that e.ventures Partner Brendan Wales said “has been broken for far too long” thanks to “poor user interfaces, payments delays, unnecessary fees, a lack of integrations” and more.

PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024